TRENTON-CAMDEN UPDATE

At today's NJ Transit Board Meeting in Newark, an announcement is expected to be made regarding the new name for the Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit System (aka the boondoggle tribute to Burlington County's GOP), as well as the official launch date for the line. SNJLRTS, which was to have opened last year, has been beset by delays due to construction problems and legal actions. Now, if NJT can stick with this date, all will be well.

HYBRID SIGHTINGS

It appears that based on spotter observations, the 12 hybrid low floor buses will mainly be used on the 12, 17, and 37. The hybrids have bike racks (as do the 5600s assigned to Southern), and the 12 and 37 are bike rack lines. The 17 is, well, the 17 - one of the busiest lines operating out of Southern. Even though the hybrids may make an occasional appearance on other Southern routes, they will mainly stay on the 12, 17, and 37.

NABI OVERHAUL UPDATE

Out of the 398 NABIs, there are now 43 that have yet to go through the overhaul process. Three more have recently returned to service with the past few days: Comly 5107, Midvale 5236, and Red Arrow 5302. In a recent observation, 5102, 5188, 5293, 5373, and 5394 are about to go through the process or have completed VOH since the last report from Wyoming.

Once the NABI overhauls are complete, which should be within the next 6-8 weeks, Wyoming Shop employees will begin identifying problem areas with the Neoplan artic fleet, which has endured problems ranging from slow acceleration, sticky brakes, and a myriad of problems that some operators have started branding them as "junk." And they're less than 4 years old...

Allegheny 7102 is reportedly the pilot bus for the VOH process, and is expected to be out of service for at least the next 2-3 months, and possibly longer.

93 ADJUSTMENTS

Congestion problems along Ridge Pike have forced SEPTA to make adjustments to three AM peak trips on the 93 between Pottstown and Norristown. The 6:40am departure from Pottstown will now depart at 6:25am, while the 7:40am and 8:40am departures from Norristown will depart 5 minutes earlier. New timetables will be issued with a November 24 effective date.

Isn't it interesting how SEPTA can change the 93 schedules mid-way through a schedule cycle, but they can't do the same for the often unreliable 104?